Tourism

Cambridge, the city where I lived and worked for many years,
suffers from some major plagues, of which the most notable are
tourists and tourism, and consumer shops and
shoppers.

Although connected, and encouraging each other, the tourists and
tourism are two distinct problems.

Tourism

The tourism industry here is parasitic on some colleges of the
University, with the annoying arrogance that seems to claim that if
you're not intelligent enough to go to University, you have a right to
use the University buildings for profit, getting in the way of the
appointed work of the University.

Unfortunately, the local government is anti-intellectual (``town
versus gown'' hatred) and promotes tourism (as well as actively
causing obstruction itself). The current national government is also
keen on tourism, and seems to be committed to bringing the top
Universities' standards down to the average, so there's unlikely to be
much help from that quarter.

A useful analogy

``Tourism is to culture as pornography is to
beauty''

There are many similarities between tourism and pornography:

They are both exploitative

In both of them, the (financial) beneficiaries are not those of
whom an attribute is being used

they both attempt to expose the viewer to something that the
viewer is missing

it appears to be the normal case dictation that tourists lack
culture, and that pornography users lack beauty

they both misuse the exploited attribute

beauty is used as something to lust over, and culture as
something to gawp over

Tourists

(This includes most language students, who are sent here to get
them away from their parents over the summer, rather than in any
serious expectation that they will learn English.)

The most noticeable thing about these is the obstruction they
cause; this is made all the more annoying by the arrogant assumption
that they're entitled to take up all the pavement (sidewalk) and force
other people into the road. (This doesn't work on me, at 16st!) To
add insult to injury, the nations of origin of the worst offenders
these ways seem to be those whose economies are shored up by our tax
money (which the European government enforces, rather than letting
money from a European country go to people who really need support
-- but are not white).

Less popular than is claimed...

A rumour seems to be put about that tourism benefits ``local
people'' and either that it also benefits the university or that the
university should bow to people less capable than its members and shut
up (the local rag wrote something that, in context, seemed to mean
this, worded as ''the University should be reasonable''!)... just try
muttering ``****** tourist'' at someone obviously local who steps out
in front of you, and you'll start getting a sample of what local
people really do think about tourism!